Thailand in the eyes of a 20-something..: Day 14

-Woke up, had a quick breakfast with Ilker, then headed to the airport. My flight to Cairo was short and easy, a mere two hours from take off to touch down, and they even served us lunch.

-Landed at 3:10pm at Cairo International Airport and was overjoyed to be in a warm climate once again (dry and dusty, yes, but warm just the same). I followed the signes to pay my 15 euros for my visa sticker, and the teller was impressed with how many pages he had to turn to find a blank spot in my passport. Breezed through immigration without a hitch, and after waiting anxiously and impatiently for my backpack, I joined the line for customs (who apparently saw me as a harmless backpacker and waved me through without even a second glance). Then came the fun part.

-I decided first things first - I needed a map. I looked around in the arrivals hall and quickly spotted the Tourist Information desk. I walked over and politely asked for a map. "Sorry, no maps," I was told. I stared blankly at them, my polite face melting into frustration, and even said aloud, "You're a tourist info desk and you don't have maps...?..." but they only returned my blank stare so I walked to another section of the booth/kiosk/thing and asked for the best way to get into the city (my friend Jim had told me to take a taxi but I wanted to make sure), and the nice man behind the counter told me he'd call me a taxi that woul take me to the city for 100 pounds (about $14). Jim had said it would be about that price, and it appeared to be my only option, so I agreed. I ended up with a driver named Adam, who at first looked quite grumpy and sketchy, but brightened up as soon as we started driving, and rambled on about his daughters, the city's history, the revolution, different landmarks as we passed them, and was actually quite fun to talk with.

Welcome to Cairo traffic

Driving over the Nile

-The drive into the city was intense. For those of you who've ridden in Bangkok traffic, or even driven - it's like that...only crazier and more aggressive. Cairo isn't a whole lot bigger than Bangkok, but has almost 10 million more inhabitants, and they all have cars. Traffic lights are few and far between, and aren't really acknowledged anyway. Due to the revolution two years ago, there are significantly fewer police around to enforce the treaffic laus, so it's become somewhat of a free-for-all. Imagine life-size bumper cars, and you'll have a pretty good idea; every car, and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. CAR. in Cairo has dents/chips/scrapes/scratches on at least one corner, if not all four. *Enter montage of scraped up cars in Cairo* They're like battle scars from the daily traffic "wars": people walking in the streets, dodging vehicles, drivers cutting each other off left and right, cars lined up for miles on the bridges waiting impatiently and pressing into their horns at every opportunity as if the honking with somehow dissolve the traffic jams faster. Oh and everyone, EVERYONE, drives with both windows down; whether that's more for the breeze or to make it easier to shout at someone I'm still not quite sure.